What I’m Watching: 30 Rock

30 Rock: Season 4, Episode 12 “Verna” (B+)

This was a pretty kooky and somewhat disturbing episode, but ultimately things came together and it proved to be pretty brilliant. Jack sitting down to try and brainwash Jenna about something is always an entertaining idea, and I liked how his first remark was “mothers…you can’t kill them,” followed by dead silence. His very technically unimpressive PowerPoint presentation was goofy, and the inclusion of “no” in all languages seemed woefully unnecessary. Jenna clearly wasn’t listening though, since her only response was “best friend with benefits?” The fact that Jenna’s mother suggested that Jack dress down to go to a fancy dinner was amusing. Jack’s dismay at Jenna getting along with her mother was great, but it’s nice that he actually cleverly made a deal with her mom to protect her, even if it was just to keep the show on track. The Liz-Jenna healthy diet was clearly never going to work, but it was a load of fun while it lasted. Liz didn’t seem disturbed enough that her chips were manufactured in a plant that also processes food, which was really wacky. Pete’s attempt to drive home his resistance drive by citing that his family refused to fight in seven wars was hilarious, as was Liz’s outing of Frank’s misdeeds, with her referential cry of “J’accuse!” and her self-congratulatory delight revolving around “if only some genius had secretly videotaped her living room last night.” Liz’s comment about believing in herself, just like the last scene of all movies was a hoot, and Liz’s sleep-eating, including the cigarettes, was simply craziness. Kenneth thinking he could spend quality time with Pete was about as much of a mistake as the notion that he’s interesting, and the quick cut to Pete at a fight club taking a punch was the perfect way to sum up his feelings about the situation. Kenneth’s ending comments about a show called Doctor with a guy named Doctor who’s a piano player was pretty fantastic, and the show managed to live up to its ridiculous nature by showing a weird shot of the cartoon talking to Jack in the elevator. Oh, this show.